"Arguably the most provocative film essayist/documentarian of the last sixty years in American life." Bill Nichols

Emile de Antonio defined his work as "a history of the US in the Cold War." The recent DVD releases of "Point of Order" (1963) and "In the Year of the Pig" (1968) hopefully signal a renewed interest in this most interesting of filmmakers whose work has remained un(der)-released for many years. From his first film, "Point of Order" (1963) about the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954, to his final film, "Mr. Hoover and I" (1989) which traces his own forty-year surveillance by the FBI, de Antonio was as influential as he was controversial, his filmmaking style as radical as his politics.

This area has received queries concerning such topics as the financing arrangements of de Antonio's work; the political impact (or otherwise) of his films; and usefulness of his documentaries as historical documents. We invite proposals on any aspect of de Antonio's ten films * Point of Order; That's Where the Action Is (1965); Rush to Judgment (1967); In the Year of the Pig; America Is Hard to See (1970); Millhouse: A White Comedy (1971); Painters Painting (1973); Underground (1976); In the King of Prussia (1983); Mr. Hoover and I * his techniques, his life and his influence on contemporary filmmakers.

Please submit 200-250 word proposals along with a brief biographical note to aaxjab2_at_nottingham.ac.uk by August 15, 2006, but earlier proposals are preferred. Please feel free to contact me with any queries you may have.

This area is part of Film & History's 2006 "The Documentary Tradition" conference. The conference will be held November 8-12, 2006, at the Dolce Conference Center in Dallas, TX, near the DFW airport. D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus will be featured artists at the conference. Plenary sessions will be conducted by Raymond Fielding, author of "The American Newsreel: A Complete History," and Betsy McLane, co-author of "A New History of Documentary Film." Sessions will also be held with Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell, documentary filmmakers with oeuvre devoted to the ethnic experience in America and the experience of women (www.mediaprojects.org), and Glenn Marcus and historians who researched "March of the Bonus Army" for PBS. In addition, James Welsh, Editor (Emeritus) of the Literature/Film Quarterly will chair a special session of film journal editors to talk with participants about publication opportunities and goals.